OTHER FARM CROPS 601 



lime dusted over the beds will also assist in preventing the spread of 

 fungous diseases. 



The preparation of the field for the plants should be begun in 

 the autumn, if possible, by plowing the land 2 or 3 inches deep and 

 sowing a cover crop, such as vetch or some other legume. These 

 leguminous cover crops not only prevent washing and loss of fer- 

 tility during the heavy rains of the fall and winter, but increase the 

 fertility of the soil through the addition of the nitrogen in the 

 tubercles of these plants and by reason of their extensive root devel- 

 opment, which tends to break up and put the soil in the best pos- 

 sible tilth for the young plants. In the spring the land should be 

 replowed, care being used to see that the cover crop is thoroughly 

 plowed under, with an application of well-rotted stable manure at the 

 rate of 12 to 15 tons to the acre. 



In addition to the use of stable manure, it has been found that 

 the following or a similar fertilizer should be used in order to se- 

 cure the best results : One ton of cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds of car- 

 bonate of potash, 500 pounds of starter, and 1 barrel of lime to the 

 acre. This commercial fertilizer should be sowed on the land after 

 plowing and worked into the soil with a disk or by some other means 

 of thorough stirring before the young plants are transplanted into 

 the field. When the young plants are pulled from the seed beds the 

 bed should be thoroughly wet down before pulling, in order that as 

 little injury to the plants as possible may be inflicted during the 

 process of pulling. The plants are usually set out with a tobacco 

 setter. If possible, it is desirable to transplant after a shower or 

 during a moist spell of weather, as the hot sun on the young plants 

 in the fields is likely to cause considerable injury. Immediately 

 after transplanting, the young plants should be dusted with a bran 

 mash and Paris green mixture made by mixing thoroughly 1 pound 

 of Paris green with 100 pounds of bran. This mixture can be ap- 

 plied to the plants by dusting through a perforated tin box, or in 

 some cases a small fertilizer sower is used for this purpose. 



In transplanting the young plants from the seed bed it is desir- 

 able to make a selection of the best and most vigorous plants. At 

 this early stage of growth the differences in shape of leaf can be de- 

 tected by an inspection of the seedlings. For the Havana Seed va- 

 riety the plants should be set in rows 3 feet 3 inches apart, and the 

 plants should be set 18 inches apart in the row. If the plants are set 

 by hand great care should be used not to bend or otherwise injure 

 the roots of the young plants, as such injury may result in a dis- 

 eased condition of the plant, making it almost worthless for wrapper 

 purposes. 



In cultivating the field a shallow or surface cultivator should be 

 used and the soil kept stirred frequently in order to conserve soil 

 moisture, as well as to remove all weeds. It is usually found neces- 

 sary to hoe the field once or twice during the early stages of growth 

 in order to remove all of the weeds and to loosen the soil around 

 the young plants and keep it in the best possible condition for their 

 most favorable growth. 



